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    flatly to refuse his mother , and , while he half submits , his voice chokes with agony at the thought of the baseness asked of him . * Must I go show them my unbarbed sconce ? Must I , With my base tongue , give to my noble heart A lie , that it must bear ?"

    This was not said in pride , but in bitter agony ; it was not merely required of him to submit to the people , but it was required of him to falsify truth , to pretend thoughts which he felt not . He loved truth , and he was required to lie . Not on his own account would he give any verbal assent , no threat , no torture could move him , but habitual reverence to his mother made him assent , yet with the inward consciousness that it would be unavailing , from the outbreaking of his native nobleness . 4 You have put me now to such a part , which never I shall discharge to the life . " ' We'll prompt you / says Comiriius , and the noble , but illguided man feels himself robbed of his power and dignity as he reflects upon the change he has to undergo . He can no longer endure the thoughts of the accumulated baseness , and his native spirit breaks forth in a magnificent burst of high moral impulse .

    ' I wilL not do ' Lest I surcease to honour mine own truth , And , by my body ' s action , teach my mind A most inherent baseness . ' Again the evil spirit interferes in the shape of his mother , and again is his moral worth abated . With a heavy heart he speaks like a man about to sacrifice a rich treasure of honour , and be thenceforth steeped in eternal infamy . He knows the sacrifice , and knowingly has to perform it .

    Mother , I'm going to the market-place ; Chide me no more . I'll mountebank their loves , Cog their hearts from them , and come home beloved Of all the trades in Rome . I'll return consul ; Or never trust to what my tongue can do I * the way of flattery further / ' Answer mildly to your enemies' accusation * , ' says Cominius . Awhile Coriolanus thinks on the meaning of the word * mildly , ' and then , his mind being made up as to trie course to be pursued , he replies with the distinct purpose of one who feels it impossible to commit a meanness , * Let them accuse me by invention , I Will answer in mine honour /

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    Coriolanus no Aristocrat . 293

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  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1834, page 293, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2632/page/65/